Book Description
Authors Dowling and Mielenz provide their readers with a step-by-step practical approach to mentoring that combines successful management methods with down-to-earth parenting practices. This thoughtful and insightful guide teaches how to build respectful, collaborative relationships at work and at home.
Customer Reviews:
Mentor Manager, Mentor Parent.......2004-07-18
Overall, the book is an easy, good read for anyone interested in improving their communication skills and relationships in general, both at home and in the work place. The authors provide a revealing self-test at the start of the book as well as worksheets throughout. (Hint, hold onto your answers from the self-test as you will use them throughout the other chapters in the book)!
The authors describe four control styles or personality types. Don't be surprised if your style at home and at work differ. Once you know your style, you can glean the advice and suggestions that apply to you personally. The book does not speak condescendingly to any particular group, in fact, it is as the title suggests, in mentors and encourages and even provides worksheets for practice (pssst....no one has to see your worksheets but you)!
It will help to reveal your strengths and weaknesses and better equip you to resolve conflict both on a personal and professional level. Of course, taking into consideration the emotions and values of both parties involved in the communication process. Whether intended or not, it seems as though the underlying principle involved is the value of each person as an individual, their beliefs and their emotions. We have no control over the emotions as they arise, but we do to some degree have control as to how we deal with them and how we deal with our emotions affects others.
Although the authors coin the term "control style," the book does not promote controlling behavior in a negative sense. Rather, it promotes a mentoring behavior that preserves the relationship, nurturing the relationship and the individual.
The book takes you from the place of identifying your values and relating them to the child or employee. Once that has been established, you eventually work up to the point of letting go. The passing of ownership of choices, decisions and responsiblity of actions to the child or employee, whatever the case may be. That is the goal of the book, to produce responsible, self-directed persons while preserving your relationship in the process.
Overall, I liked the book and the motivational style in which it was written. If I had any dislikes, it would have been some of the real life scenario's and the seemingly perfect endings. One begins to think, this is too good to be true. But those thoughts are quickly diminished as you read further along in the book to find that not every scenario is a win-win.
I would recommend this book for personal and professional use. It is not often you find a book with universal principles that can be applied to all aspects of your life.
Great book!.......2002-10-10
Combines management tips with proven parenting advice that I can use at home and at work.
Book Description
Proven strategies for handling stressful situations calmly and professionally.
Difficult people are the ones who:
Make us lose our cool
Force us to do things we don't want to do
Prevent us from doing what we want or need to do
Use coercion or manipulation to get their way
Make us feel guilty if we don't "go along"
Make us feel anxious, upset, frustrated, depressed, jealous, inferior or defeated
Make us do their share of the work.
A difficult person, in short, is someone who creates difficulties for others.
Dealing with Difficult People is the revised and updated edition of the international best seller, updated to reflect recent changes in the workplace and designed to benefit anyone who has ever had to deal with angry, rude, impatient or aggressive people.
Roberta Cava draws on years of human resources experience as she:
- Explores the root causes of communication problems
- Reviews specific situations, such as workplace bullying
- Explains the reasons behind common personality conflicts
- Provides suggestions for alleviating problems
- Suggests ways to improve people skills.
Dealing with Difficult People offers proven techniques for working better with others, reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing confidence and enthusiasm in all professional relationships.
Customer Reviews:
Good book.......2007-07-14
I had the pleasure of sitting in on one of Roberta's seminars and meeting this very lovely woman. This book gives you some good tips and trick on how to deal with people that you may find difficult.
Excellent Resource!!.......2005-06-13
This book is so chock full of info on dealing with difficult people. It goes beyond the obvious and gets to the root causes of the actions some people take, and how you can best combat them. I would recommend this book for anyone. Not just business persons, but anyone dealing with the public. It can even help with interpersonal relationships.
A great book
Book Description
An encyclopedic look at several dozen of the most well known "people" of literature, television, mythology, and film.
From detectives and criminals (Dick Tracy, Perry Mason, and Norman Bates) to the greats of theater (Hamlet, Shylock, Romeo, and Juliet), the book covers and uncovers the history and influences of major characters of fiction.
The three writers use a variety of styles and approaches, (one essay is told from a canine's point of view), and the tone ranges from scholarly to open comedy.
Customer Reviews:
A great concept-- but not particularly well done.......2007-05-19
I read a review of this book in a magazine, and I was intrigued by the concept: Michael Hart's "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History" deals with actual people; wouldn't it be possible and useful to do the same with fictional characters? Yes, it would, but, unfortunately, the authors don't execute the concept very well.
The problem for me isn't the rankings. After, all, they're admittedly subjective, and in the end, they don't matter that much any way. The thing that I found jarring at first-- and then grating as I read on-- was the uneven quality of the essays. I suspect that this was in part due to the simple fact that there are three co-authors. It would be very difficult to coordinate the styles and lengths of the essays.
More seriously, though, they clearly didn't attempt to coordinate the point of the essays. That is, some of them are straight biographies. Some are pop-cultural analyses of the significance of the characters. Some are political screeds. Some are failed attempts to be cutsie, best illustrated by the essay supposedly written by an author's dog. Many of the essays read as though they were responses to homework assignments that were written at the last second by a student hoping that his teacher will mistake generalities and clever wordplay for content.
Now, this isn't to say that I hated the book; in fact, I actually liked it. It's just that it disappointed me. With a little more authorial discipline-- or maybe stronger editorial control-- it could have been a GREAT book.
So, in summary, I think it's worth reading, and it's entertaining, but I believe it could have been so much better.
Okay Bathroom book........2007-03-21
My sister bought me this book and I was really excited to read it because my friends and I would sit around and discuss topics such as this. It appears that a group of people took advantage of an idea most of us have had and did not deliver anything more than essays that remind me of papers I wrote 3 hours before they were due. Sometimes I never understood why they thought the character was influential, sometimes their influence seemed extremely exaggerated and sometimes I was not sure whether they undertsood influence. The only reason I gave the book 2 stars is because it reignited my desire to have discussions a=on topics such as this.
Don't Get It..........2007-02-16
A list that includes such potentially fleeting charactors as Buffy The Vampire Slayer as high as #44 and the demotion of a universally recognised near 70 year old charactor such as Superman to #64 is highly doubtful in its seriousness or its intention.
I don't believe they would write the same list even 12 months from now.
A bathroom is where this book belongs........2007-02-05
I found the book title to be very fascinating and looked forward to reading about people who have shaped our society and ourselves. What I found was self-indulgent humor that was not particularly funny and in fact often times trite. Were the authors drunk when they wrote this?! It's full of side bars and I guess what they consider jokes; though none were funny. The #24 person they listed was Odysseus who they claim tried to avoid the Trojan War by pretending to be insane; that plan having failed, he tried to join the Air National Guard in Texas. The book eventually wound up being a politial satire to slam our government I guess.
Then the authors suggest having a St. Lupercalia'a Day in which we have a day to celebrate orgies to keep the clergy happy. What?! Are you kidding me? This book is completely inappropriate. It would have been a wonderful book if the authors could have kept from drinking while writing it.
Could have been better.......2007-01-09
I had read an article that excerpted some of the essays in this book and loved the concept. It's fascinating that 101 of the most influential people who have shaped our society were not even real people. However, this book was a bit of a disappointment. After reading through 2 or 3 articles, I just skimmed the rest. To be honest, the title was much more compelling than the essays were.
Book Description
This book reveals the hidden health dangers in many of the seemingly innocent products we encounter every day--a tube of glue in a kitchen drawer, a bottle of bleach in the laundry room, a rayon scarf on a closet shelf, a brass knob on the front door, a wood plank on an outdoor deck. A compelling exposé, written by a physician with extensive experience in public health and illustrated with disturbing case histories, How Everyday Products Make People Sick is a rich and meticulously documented account of injury and illness across different time periods, places, and technologies. It presents a picture not of one exceptional or corrupt industry but rather of how run-of-the-mill manufacturing processes and consumer marketing expose workers and the general public alike to toxic hazards. More troubling still, even when such hazards are recognized, calls for their control are routinely ignored. Written for a wide audience, it offers a critical and disquieting perspective on the relationship between industrial development and its adverse health consequences.
Among the surprisingly common hazards discussed in How Everyday Products Make People Sick:
Glue and rubber cement
Chlorine bleach
Rayon and other synthetic textiles
Welding and other metal fumes
Wood preservatives
Gasoline additives
Customer Reviews:
This is actually a brilliant History book, poorly marketed........2007-05-07
Some imbecile at the publishing company gave this book what they must have thought was a trendy title. By doing that, they missed the market for what turns out to be one of the most interesting history books I've read all year--and I read a lot of history.
What this book really is, is a history of how changes in industrial processes have had unintended health consequences. It also documents the political and social forces that have kept the health consequences of these various chemicals from being known and regulated.
All this sounds dry and dusty, but the author writes with a lively, well-documented, anecdote-rich style that modestly cloaks a depth of research far beyond what I've read in history books written by trained historians. It's a pleasure to read, and in the process of reading it you'll learn a great deal about the history of plastic manufacturing, how artificial textiles are made, the uses of industrial bleaching, and many dozens of other intriguing processes which make our world what it is.
What a pleasure to discover that there still are a few highly educated "renaissance" people in the world who can combine expertise in medicine, history, social thought and engineering to come up with such a delightful, well-written read.
If I had the power, I'd nominate this book for the National Book Award in History!
An Exemplar for General Interest Texts in Occupational Toxicology.......2007-01-19
Given the recent proliferation of pulp-professional books reviewing environmental toxicology, Dr. Paul Blanc's immediate challenge in *How Everyday Products Make us Sick* is to set his work apart from its peers. To anyone who merely browses Blanc's book, it will quickly become apparent that he easily obviates this challenge.
And to anyone who studies his book in depth, it will become clear that Blanc has at once established himself as a member of that rare species called "polymath;" a species populated by the likes of Jared Diamond, Joseph Campbell, and James Burke.
Of all such authors, Blanc's style and scope most closely mirrors that of Burke, whose celebrated "Connections" series on BBC set a new standard for integrated, iconoclastic scholarship. While, as an occupational toxicologist, I am admittedly partial to Blanc's field of study, I am anything but partial to its existing body of literature. Before reading--and re-reading--Blanc's book, I had yet to encounter a model for conveying occupational toxicology to the general public both coherently and charmingly.
Yet Blanc's breakthough compendium is nothing if not both charming and coherent. It will undoubtedly captivate both professionals and non-professionals, although non-professionals will likely gain the most insight from this book. (Professionals, and/or perfectionists, will reap immeasurable reward from Blanc's immaculate footnotes; worthy of separate publication in their own right).
Like James Burke, Blanc inter-weaves science, history, and culture with such electrifying (and refreshingly irreverent) flair as to virtually prove Mark Twain's saw that nothing has been more detrimental to human knowledge than traditional, pulpous modes of education.
Christian P. Erickson, M.D., M.P.H.
-------------------------------
christianerickson@alumni.duke.edu
Industrial Hazards.......2006-12-29
This book focuses on industrial hazards, with brief explanations, and reasonably complete histories, of the industrial processes insofar as the history and the knowledge of the process can inform knowledge of the hazard presented to workers and to product users. One key theme is how knowledge of many of today's industrial hazards has been with us for very long periods of time, but that--and I interject here my own view--given the emphasis on economic development concurent with the rise of industrial society--medical and regulatory efforts at controlling or reducing the risks of the hazards have been unsuccessful, due to the inconvenence or costs to the industries so associated. Without actually using the term "externalities," a propensity to assign those costs from industries to their employees, the environment, and to product-users is documented.
Another key theme is that the knowledge of the hazards and their tentatively arrived-at mitigation measures has ebbed and flowed, with populations thinking that effective controls have been implemented when in fact they have not been.
A further point of knowledge is that there is no clear dividing line between exposures in the workplace and exposures in the home. For this reason, and probably because the medical literature from which he is able to draw has dealt more with workplace hazards than with hazards in the home, the focus is on industry, though the writing moves from industry to the home when the hazards move there also. I would recommend the book to a popular audience for knowledge of industrial hazards in the home, but only if the reader is willing to learn the author's lessons regarding how the danger origininates in industry and moves from there to the home, and is willing to also learn the important lesson that the hazards to the workers who produce the products are significant factors in making product choices, as well as the actual toxic effect to the user. He quotes Jerry Garcia on the hellish aspects of vinyl record production. No special knowledge of chemistry is required to understand the text.
Unfortunately I do not have the book in front of me now, but from memory, here are a few of the topics covered:
- mercury fumes
- cotton dust
- carbon disulfide
- chlorine
- metal working fumes
- multiple causes of Parkinsonism
I do not mean to imply that the author appeared to me to be less than comprehensive in his addressing of toxic processes and products, although he did not deal extensively with military industries, nor with the current issue regarding the environmental distribution of uranium munitions. He touched on the shortcomings of the regulatory process under lassiz-faire capitalism, and sees the two most important upcoming issues, besides recovering from recent efforts at governmental deregulation and disassembling and hampering of regulatory agencies, as the toxic effects of additives to gasoline, and the toxic effects of wood preservation chemicals, both of which are throughly reviewed, noting the special dangers to children.
I enjoyed his end-noted documentantion of the most obscure points of his historical reviews, some of which were not even central to what he was saying. I felt he liked doing this sort of extensive research, was expert in his field, and that the writing was a labour of love.
Average customer rating:
- great problem identifier, HORRID advice
- Authoritatively Written With A Gentle Tone, but a Firm Hand
- Best thing about this book...
- A Great Book
- Good for defining problem, minimal for helping with it
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10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make and How To Avoid Them: Simple and Sure Techniques for Gaining Greater Control of Your Life
Arthur Freeman
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
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Personal Transformation
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
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General
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ASIN: 0060921994 |
Book Description
ARE YOU A MISTAKE MAKER?
- Have you ever thought: "I'd better not try, I could be embarrassed"?
- Does it bother you to see someone you know get ahead -- of you?
- Have you ever thought: "Its my responsibility to make sure my loved ones are happy"?
- Is your motto "Anything worth doing must be done absolutely right"?
- Do you tend to qualify your responses?
- That is, do you find yourself saying: "Yes, its good, but..."?
- Have you ever concluded: "Everybody thinks I messed up"?
- Have you ever thought: "I just can't lose.
- Let's face it, when you've got it, you've got it"?
You, just like everybody else in the world, may be prone to one or many of the ten dumbest mistakes smart people make. Now, Dr. Arthur Freeman and Rose DeWolf offer clear, practical advice and concrete techniques to help you combat selfdefeating thinking and gain greater control of your life, work, and personal relationships. Arm yourself with this one right away.
Customer Reviews:
great problem identifier, HORRID advice.......2006-01-07
This book is great for identifying problems that may be affecting you, it defines each problem very clearly, and there is a test in the beginning to help you figure out which problem areas are at the top of the list. It even gives examples of how these problem areas affect certain situations to clarify.
The problem with this book is the advice. A lot of it is very simple, and winds up contradicting itself. Some of it is not even helpful or good advice. Take for example the idea that one should ignore insults, in the chapter about Personalizing. It states that if you don't consistently ignore someone who is insulting you, it's called 'letting it get to you'. However, it's actually called 'letting someone walk all over you' and a better book would advise you to learn to be assertive and tell the person to stop, THE FIRST TIME, and if the person doesn't stop, to leave. Also, at the end of the chapter, is a real problem as well. He writes a scenario with a mother who made homemade salad dressing and her son doesn't like it. He then makes it sound as though it is okay for you to sit there and silently demean your own son in your head because of his personal tastes, saying stuff to yourself like he has an inability to appreciate good food, and that he is not the ultimate world judge of salad dressing worthiness (whilst true, this would imply the mother would think that SHE is the ultimate world judge and is being quietly condescending), and that if she serves him bottled salad dressing next time and he complains, she can explain the error (in this case his personal tastes are considered WRONG) of his ways. This right here is an extremely poor model of appropriate thought behavior! Obviously the mother in the example is a bit of a narcissist and harmfully not allowing her son to have his own personal tastes without criticism. Things like this are why I refuse to give this book any review that makes it sound great.
So definitely take this book with a heaping pile of salt. Please don't let it be your self-help bible. There are other ways of acting that would be much much better than the advice given in this book.
Authoritatively Written With A Gentle Tone, but a Firm Hand .......2005-04-06
One of the few superlative books in the self-help realm, this one really breaks down the faulty thinking processes we engage in and gives them easy to understand labels as we learn to eliminate them from our lives. Contrary to the absolutely fatuously-titled review: "Good for defining problem, minimal for helping with it" there are whole chapters here dealing with nothing other than "helping with it" including no less than 18 specific techniques for dealing with the various types of problems covered here, and which are handled here with plenty of detail and practical advice for me. I would suggest ignoring this other reviewer who sounds like he has little or no expertise in the self-help area and buy this book! I promise you will thank me!
Best thing about this book..........2004-05-10
is that it made me actually stop and think about all the stupid things we people sometimes do to ourselves that make us go crazy for no good reason other then our own over-exaggerating thoughts. If we only learn to alter the way we think, the world would be a much much better place to live. You can definitely learn a lot from this book...especially for young adolescents, this book can the teach the young very early on in life how to prepare yourself for the inevitable as they get older. For example, I thought about this book one day while I was driving with my family on the highway during Thanksgiving Day. There happened to be some crazy driver driving almost 90 MPH and swirving dangerously among the other cars. All of a sudden, I made a witty remark stating, "Geez, that driver must really be in a hurry to eat some turkey." Once I said that, everybody in the car started laughing. Instead of getting mad at the crazy driver for driving so carelessly, "I" chose to reinstate my thoughts about him and reaasure everybody that even an annoying situation such as that, should not bring you down unless you choose to let it bring you down.
A Great Book.......2003-06-25
This book has helped me in many ways. I highly reccomend it to anyone who suffers from anxiety. The techniques are practical and easily applied. The book is easy to read and understand. You may also use it as a reference to make sure you are using the techniques properly.
Good for defining problem, minimal for helping with it.......2001-09-28
The ten items listed as the dumbest mistakes were interesting as was the discussion as to how the authors chose those particular mistakes and why. The primary value to the book is if you find one or two of the mistakes that you make on a regular basis. Unfortunately they are then followed by several paragraphs of how to deal with that problem. There are several full length books available on how to deal with just one of these problems. It appears that these authors think that in a few paragraphs they can resolve problems that others take a whole book to deal with. That being said, this book does have a value. I don't think that I would recommend it to someone who makes one or more of these mistakes on a regular basis and wishes to do something about it. For them I would suggest a book that deals more directly with their problem. However, it is an enlightening book for people who might read through it and find something that describes them. That information and the techniques described to help with the situation might be just what they need to go further and seek more thorough help. It is a good book to help you more clearly define a problem so that you can seek out other appropriate book to treat the problem.
Book Description
Sue Knight takes a fresh look at the most recent developments in this completely revised and updated toolkit of exercises, examples, and action tips to accelerate learning, increase creativity, and manage the unpredictability of our business and personal lives.
Customer Reviews:
Good introduction to NLP.......2007-03-02
I find this book an excellent introduction to the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. While there are a few other good introductory level books, this one is specific to the work context and for many people this is the best place to start improving your communication skills. Most challenges in the work place arise as a result of ineffective communication. Improvements in this area can lead to greater job satisfaction and more opportunities for advancement. Sue Knight writes in an easy to read style that will be accessible to all readers. I had purchased the first edition, but this newest edition has so much additional information that I purchased a second copy.
Not a good book on NLP, nor a good book on work/business.......2005-12-16
Oh dear. I thought long and hard about whether I should write a review on this book.
Clearly work has gone into writing it and I did pay quite a few dollars for it, so I really wish it had been good.
But no, I have to be honest, I think it has done more to turn me off the subject of NLP than even the most skeptical write-ups on the subject.
I was looking for a book that would give me a proper guide to NLP skills I could use in the workplace or business.
This neither explained properly or simply the NLP skills, nor their application in business.
It did make an attempt, but it did the worst possible thing it could - it bored the hell out of me.
To say that NLP is meant to be software for your brain, the science and practice of human excellence and is said to be as potentially limitless as the imagination itself, this book bored my socks off.
Sorry, but I found it so dry and dull.
None of the techniques, theories, etc, seemed to be very practical or hang together, it just seems to go from one subject to another with no accumulation of value or learning, which is ironic because that is what NLP is meant to be about.
I'm no expert, but I can tell you that one of the first books I ever read on NLP doesn't go into all the dull as dishwater complexities that this book does, but it has 100 times the value. That book is Change Your Life in Seven Days by Paul McKenna (see my review). It doesn't actually even mention NLP but contains all the useful techniques without the dullness of this work, and it's much cheaper, too, with a free recorded guided mind reprogramming session which is the true power of NLP in action.
Back to this book - it seems to have little application in business and is pushing a bright and frothy agenda. Well business isn't all like that. Alot of the time it's tough stuff and I can't see anything here helping even remotely.
Yes, I know all that stuff about mirroring and matching the language and gestures of the other person, but really, unless you are extremely quick, the transactions between people are so subtle that you are not exactly likely to get some negotiation breakthrough of massive proportions by the means described here.
I have since discovered a number of books that are much more effective in outlining persuasion/negotation and communication techniques in business and blow this book out of the water.
As I say, it put me off NLP for some time. However, from other books I have seen some merit in the subject and I still have some interest in it.
I have checked out a book on Amazon called Introducing NLP and have only read the searchable pages online.
However, those few pages seemed to give more clear and compact info than the first 250 pages of NLP at work.
Even the subject matter in NLP at Work is just poorly applied to business. Modelling is apparently just copying what someone else does to get the same effect. Well I learnt how to do that at school, and it's not that revolutionary a concept.
And meta-messages. What is the overall message a business is trying to give? This is not a meta-message. This is known as corporate image/identity and again is not a revolutionary concept.
If you need tips from this book on it, in the very brief way it is mentioned, then you are probably sunk already.
The only slightly redeeming part is that the section on anchoring is reasonably well described.
However, I think this book needs to decide what it is trying to be.
If you want to give a business person, who is fresh to the subject, the tools of NLP to use in a business setting, you have to come from a business perspective.
That perspective is a practical one. One that doesn't have time to trawl through all the hokey-pokey that is dragged through here.
After all, NLP is meant to be about what works. And this book sure doesn't work for me!
Not enough deapth.......2002-09-20
The author has touch on many a NLP techniques and has not talked enough about them to enable the reader to learn those techniques.
A Good Read!.......2002-09-18
Neuro linguistic programming, which sounds like a diabolical technique straight out of A Clockwork Orange, is actually a relatively straightforward method of paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal messages that people constantly emit. By noting the inflection, body language and eye movements of others, you can glean a better understanding of what they are really thinking. Conversely, by controlling the signals that you send, you can make sure that people are getting the right message. With the caveat that many elements of NLP are straight out of Communications 101, we from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone in business whose communications skills could use an upgrade.
Clear and informative.......2002-09-07
This is a well-written book on NLP in the workplace. The author's style is clear and easy to follow. There is little jargon and an emphasis on getting ideas across in plain English. A very good overview of NLP and its applications. Highly recommended.
Book Description
Release the power of the Church in the marketplace!
Peter Wagner, "faith and work movement" expert, shares the most significant paradigm shift since the Reformation: bridge-building between the nuclear church and the extended church. But there's a gap between the once-a-week church and the church in the workplace. Creating Harmony between these two powerful forces allows believers in both realms to fulfill their God-given mandates.
God's people make up the Church every day, not just on Sunday. On the other six days, we transform into the "extended church." Wagner's comprehensive volume shows Christians how to expand their vision and live out their faith both on the clock and in the pews.
Jesus ministered in the marketplace. So should we. But the culture won't be transformed unless it happens through us. The Church in the Workplace is a comprehensive guide to workplace transformation and will help you understand your call to service, to sense that God stands ready to anoint your work.
All Christians, no matter the task or employer, can grasp God's authority and power when they see their job as a holy invitation to claim souls for the Kingdom.
Customer Reviews:
Faith and Work Movement Expert?.......2006-07-15
It's difficult to be succinct with a review when the book in question covers so much "debatable" ground. This is the case with Wagner's latest, The Church in the Workplace.
To be fair, Wagner seems to have his heart in the right place. He thoroughly believes that the church must be "extended" out of the sanctuary and into the workplace. He echoes the thoughts of many (myself included) when he argues that the "clergy/laity" chasm has done more harm than good and that the one who serves God in the 9-5 is just as much a minister as the professional pastor.
But it's in the details where Wagner throws caution to the wind and comes off very UN-scholarly for a former Fuller prof.
So, before you buy this book, be aware that Wagner is attempting to establish a new way of thinking for many believers, a shift that mimics his own theological journey since leaving Fuller. This new paradigm includes:
1. A shift from premillenial theology (the Kingdom of God is still to come) to Dominion or "Kingdom Now" theology (the Kingdom has already come but the church is not taking advantage of it).
2. A shift in mission for the church (from "making disciples" to "social transformation")
3. A shift in church government (from all current forms to the "New Apostolic Reformation")
4. A shift in economic philosophy (from a cautious and often complex view of biblical economics to a full-fledged, unashamed approach to the "prosperity gospel" endorsed by many Charismatics).
It may be hard to believe for some, but the list above is not hidden between the lines of the text. Wagner boldly and unapologetically seeks to make the case for each of these ideas, often times mutilating key passages of Scripture in the process.
To his credit, though, Wagner admits to being a "doctrinal minimalist" and to being more concerned about "pragmatics" than "theology or exegesis."
So if you're looking for a solid, biblical mandate for the faith@work movement, this is the wrong place to look. Instead, Wagner spends his energy trying to establish a "phenomenological" argument for his theory of why social transformation must take place but has yet to come to fruition. The key, according to Wagner, is power and money. Once "workplace apostles" are in position and wielding their proper "God-given authority," they can begin the process of transferring wealth out of the "world" and into the Kingdom of God.
If the above points inspire you, then you'll love Wagner's book and you should buy it now. If you are concerned by some of the points above, then you might want to drop by your local bookstore to browse through the book before coming back and making your Amazon purchase.
Book Description
When Mel Leventhal married Alice Walker during the civil rights movement in the late 1960s, his mother declared him dead and did not reconcile until after the birth of her first grandchild. After Mel and Alice divorced, their daughter, Rebecca, alternated homes every two years, spending time in Mississippi, Brooklyn, San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, Washington, D.C., the Bronx, and suburban Westchester. With each new place came a new identity and desperate attempts to fit in: as white or black, as Puerto Rican or Jewish, as a party girl, a fighter, or a lover. Confused, and mostly alone, she turned to sex, drugs, books, and a cast of dangerous and thrilling characters.
Black, White, and Jewish is the story of a child's unique struggle for identity and home when nothing in her world told her who she was or where she belonged. Poetic reflections on memory, time, and identity punctuate this gritty exploration of race and sexuality. Rebecca Walker has taken up the lineage of her mother, Alice, whose last name she chose to carry, and has written a lucid and inventive memoir that marks the launch of a major new literary talent.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Memoir.......2007-05-30
I discovered how much I like Rebecca Walker's writing, voice and style after reading a forward she wrote for an anthology of mixed race writings. Then I heard her speak and I read "Black, White and Jewish" the next day. I didn't want to put the book down and I was sorry when her memoir ended because I wanted to keep on reading.
And no, at that point it had not yet occurred to me that she was Alice Walker's daughter. Besides, that would not have made any difference to me anyway. Both Alice and Rebecca are excellent authors, but the fact that they are related is not important to me. What matters is that Rebecca has written an excellent memoir.
Thank you Rebecca.
A story to share...........2007-05-07
What caught my eye at first was her last name...Walker. So I said to myself she must have inherited her Mom's way of putting into words her thoughts. Once I started to read the story, I could not put it down. The pain was felt through each chapter, each change of home every two years. What a way to grow up. But grow up she did into a very complex woman who can share her childhood with others who may also have the identity crisis of having not only parents from different racial backgrounds, but also of having the constant shift of "home". The book helped me understand what my daughters have gone through with their Mom being white, their Dad being African American and a military family with the moving every couple of years. Once I was done, I gave the book to my now 24 year old daughter, a mother now of half Honduran and the rest of her children. Thanks for opening her up to others being out there who may share her pain and to open our conversation up more than it already was.
Quick read, Had some insights........2007-02-26
ALthough I enjoyed the writing style and some of the portrayals of her family and multi-racial experiences, I expected this book to be more about the later and her coming of age rather than the attention given to her sexual experiences. This did not seem as important to the book as the themes on racism, black/Jewish relations, etc. I would have liked more of that. It seemed like she had a lot of rebellion against her dad and his wife, but they seemed more there for her than her mom. I found this book very interesting and I would like to read more by this author and on this topic.
Rebecca Walker is a Schlemiel and a Putz........2007-01-26
What do Lenny Kravitz, Craig David, Derek Jeter, Hale Berry, Barak Obama, Rain Pryor, Keanu Reeves, and The Rock all have in common? They're successfull bi-racial Americans of politics, arts, and athletics. Unfortunately, Rebecca Walker Leventhal doesn't measure up. She feels sorry for herself because she's half-white, and she's angry at her father for making her half-Jewish. Poor thing.
Leventhal's life is nowhere near as bad as she wants us to believe. Her father cared about her very much, and her stepmom sounds okay to me, but she writes about her father like he was neglectful. She's angry at him for moving the family to a suburb, but was that such a bad thing? What's wrong with wanting to live in a good area with great schools? She felt alienated from her white Jewish friends, but that was self-imposed. All these Jewish people WANTED to be her friend, but the suburbs just weren't good enough for her.
Her next complaint is her teen years. She acts like it was all pain and guilt, but from what I read, she had a great time. She had lots of interesting boyfriends, and spent a summer on the set of "The Color Purple." She graduated from high school, went to an Ivy League college, and that doesn't sound bad.
Walker's problem is her MOTHER. Alice Walker was a terrible parent. What kind of mother refuses to take her daugher to meet her principal? What kind of mother refuses to be involved in her daughter's life. I think the reason she complains so much is that she's realy angry at her mother, but seems guilty accusing her. After all, Alice Walker is black, and she can't accuse her black mother of anything. Her Jewish father is an easier target.
Leventhal (or Walker, whatever she calls herself) should stop thinking of herself as a victim and a mutant, and start thinking of herself as the product of two wonderful things. Lenny Kravitz was another Black Jewish American, and he had his lumps, including his parents' divorce. But being Black and Jewish didn't hold him back, it kept him going. Rain Pryor was a Black jew, and her dad was a cokehead, but she writes about her life with strength and humor.
At first I didn't think Rebecca had the wisdom commonly associated with American Jews. But then I realized she's one of us. How do I know? Her whining! Read "Born to Kvetch" and you'll learn why Jews are stereotyped as whiners. We're very vocal about things, including our problems. It's one of the ways that we avoid stress and anger, which in other cultures leads to drunkness, temper flashes and wife-beating. But we do other things besides complain, and that's all she does. Complain.
Thank You Rebecca !.......2006-11-30
While I believe you were more privileged than I was, thank you for telling the Jewish community what it needed to hear as opposed to what it wanted to hear.
As a fellow multiracial Jew, your assertions about the Jewish community were unfortunately more accurate than many would like to admit. Rebecca distanced herself from a community that didn't accept her. While I still express my Judaism at home and attend synagogue on the HHD, I don't attend schul due to racism myself. I got tired of being mistaken for the janitor, maid, or nanny. I deserve more respect than that, I'm a human being. She's getting a lot of criticism from people who want to believe in the "Jews never have race problems" crowd. Sorry guys, but its an issue.
The intercallary style of the book may annoy certain readers, but I felt they were a welcome literary device to evoke her deepest emotions. I believe she may be a bit self-indulgent at times, but I think she does display how many mixed people (and mixed Jews for that matter) feel about their communities. However, Rebecca's downward spiral into self destructive behaviors is more of a symptom of bad parenting than a community that rejects her.
I honestly don't think Rebecca is ashamed of her Jewish heritage. What Rebecca IS ashamed of how she was treated by her family and others. How would you feel about a community that doesn't consider you Jewish enough? Even worse, the same people tell you that you're not taking enough pride in your heritage, although it rejects you.
Guess what guys, the problem is mostly you, not Rebecca.
Book Description
Studs Terkel records the voices of America. Men and women from every walk of life talk to him, telling him of their likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and happinesses on the job. Once again, Terkel has created a rich and unique document that is as simple as conversation, but as subtle and heartfelt as the meaning of our lives.... In the first trade paperback edition of his national bestseller, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel presents "the real American experience" (Chicago Daily News)--"a magnificent book . . .. A work of art. To read it is to hear America talking." (Boston Globe).
Customer Reviews:
Book was STOLEN from Chicago Public Library.......2007-01-17
The book was in great condition, with one MAJOR catch: it had a Chicago Public Library bar code on it. I called the library, read them the bar code, and they asked me to please return it, as it had been taken without their permission. Amazon kindly sent me another book, and the stolen edition goes back to the library!
how people see their job tells a lot about them.......2007-01-14
What's engaging about this is the stories. Studs is known for his work getting people to tell their stories. This is one of his contributions to the cultural history of America, told first person, in a way that is timeless and just as relevant today as when it was written. One way to sum it up might be to say this is about what people learned from their work, and about themselves and others in the process. The subject might sound boring, but it's alive and seething with emotions.
On the face of it this is a dated survey of Americans and how they feel about their jobs. While there's some nostalgia in here in the attitudes and jobs of eras past it's also a fun read and one that I would recommend to teens, college students and anyone interested in perspectives about work and how we see ourselves and others.
We all know that most people hate their jobs. Work is seen as something we have to do, and few of us seem to find a job that we like or enjoy. How we feel about work, and what we do for a living, in many ways defines who we are. Seeing people share their their perspectives on this helps us see ourselves in a different light, and taken as a whole this book helps us see a perspective of America's history.
One thing I found interesting in this was the work ethic people found even in jobs they hated. Work ethics seem to be less clearly defined today in a world where ethics have gone astray, and where people tend to care less about what they do and how they do it. Seeing the pride a man took in his work, even if he hated it, tells us something about the character of a person. It's also interesting to see how people who had jobs you would assume they would have hated were content in their roles and saw what they did as a service even when others might look down on them.
The construction worker who wants to make sure his son doesn't have to do what he does was one I enjoyed and remember. An airline stewardess in an era dominated by of bigoted males... the stories this books tells are about relationships and attitudes, and in a way it's still very vital and contemporary.
It's about relationships with work, family, with other people, and with ourselves and or past and future. You'll probably see yourself and people you know in the attitudes within this book. In that way it's timeless, candid and informative, and touching.
an epic of America--.......2006-04-05
This is a fascinating book. Filled with brief, antecdotal stories of people narrowing down their lives to reflections on their jobs, the very souls of many of these people shine through. People good and bad, generous and selfish, greedy, self-absorbed, charitable and open-hearted, Terkel has captured more than just an historical document chronicling the present-past-tense viewpoints of a handful of citizens, but has exposed a universal understanding of differences of opinion throughout the nation. People speak, sometimes angry, often full of regret and a sense of meaninglessness or loss, and they tell the story of human aspiration and dreams. For all the increasingly irrelevent references to issues and phenomenon of the early 1970s, for every comment on times gone by dimming increasingly into the past, there remains a profound relevence for every civilization to come (and no doubt every one that preceded the subjects) regarding the very search for meaning in our lives.
I could rarely recommend a more powerful book dealing almost esclusively with the conscience and so I urge you, when times look either up or down, to browse through this rather hefty tome and think deeply down into yourself and wonder if you are truly pleased with the direction of your life. Herein some of the most brazenly arrogant and humbly neglectful people relate both their triumphs and regrets. Somehow master-interviewer Terkel was allowed access to all of these demons pigeonholed beneath the romanticized personas people tend to put on when attempting to define themselves.
Buy this, read this. Now . . .
MAGNUM OPUS!!.......2006-03-31
Studs Terkel wanted to write a book about working for a living. So he sat down with a grocery store cashier and interviewed her about her job. He didn't ask very many questions; he just turned on a tape recorder and let her pour her heart out. She explained what she did for a living, how and why she came to do it, what she liked and disliked about her job. She talked about the little dramas and boredom that filled her working hours and the toll it took on her private life. When she was finished talking she had created a vivid "snapshot" with words of what it's like to work as a grocery store cashier.
Then Studs interviewed a bartender, a teacher, a pro athlete and dozens of other people from dozens of professions. They each created in their own words unique self-portraits of themselves at work. The book Working is like an art gallery filled with these detailed self-portraits.
And just like strolling through an art gallery looking at paintings will give you a feel for the visions of a variety of artists, reading Working will give you a taste of the flavor of the working lives of it's subjects.
The dreams and experiences of ordinary working folk.......2005-06-05
Labor history students will easily recall Studs Terkel's Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do to be a landmark charting the dreams and experiences of ordinary working folk: add a new foreword by Adam Cohen of the New York Times to Terkel's classic and you return an important reference to modern times, with over a hundred interviews with working folk as relevant today as when it was first done.
Book Description
Revised and updated second editionContinuously at the top of New Society Publishers' best-seller list for five years, Uprooting Racism has sold over 25,000 copies since its first printing. Substantially revised and expanded, the new edition has more tools to help white people understand and stand-up to racism. Uprooting Racism explores the manifestations of racism in politics, work, community, and family life. It moves beyond the definition and unlearning of racism to address the many areas of privilege for white people and suggests ways for individuals and groups to challenge the structures of racism. Uprooting Racism's welcoming style helps readers look at how we learn racism, what effects it has on our lives, its costs and benefits to white people, and what we can do about it.In addition to updating existing chapters, the new edition of Uprooting Racism explores how entrenched racism has been revealed in the new economy, the 2000 electoral debacle, rising anti-Arab prejudice, and health care policy. Special features include exercises, questions, and suggestions to engage, challenge assumptions, and motivate the reader towards social action. The new edition includes an index and an updated bibliography.
Customer Reviews:
More stupid white guilt.......2005-12-07
I was once very active in "antiracist" action. It took me a while to realize antiracist basically means antiwhite, because you only hear one side of the story: Whites are bad and have caused everyone pain.
If you want to make a stand against racism, you should be able to take a stand against ALL racism in ALL its forms. There is racism happening right now in the world between nonwhite groups who are just as bad, if not worse, as anything seen in America.
To the self-hating white guy who said that "white people who live in all white communities live in a bubble". Wouldn't that apply to Latinos who live in barrios and blacks who live in all-black communities? Or does that not meet the standard of Political Correctness?
"I'm sorry for something that I didn't do
you said I lynched somebody but I don't know who
GUILTY OF BEING WHITE!"
-Minor Threat
Counter productive.......2004-11-27
This book is an excellant example of Liberal thought taken to the level of complete nonsense. Filled with statements such as "It is difficult for any white American not to have an immediate feeling of fear in the presence of an African-American male."(pg 68) and "We expect men of color to be dangerous." (pg 69) and in the context of challenging racism we might see in other whites, "How can we challenge other whites when we may need them in case of attack?"[by a balck male](pg 68) and "...we are more easily deceived by white leaders who have an aura of trustwothiness simply because they are white." (pg 71). These are just a very small sampling of the silly statements that are evident on each page. In an obvious attempt to conjur deep feelings of guilt, the book rehashes all of the horrible things that whites have done to people of color. This is always, ALWAYS!, counter productive. Many of the solutions that he offers will never be taken seriously by Moderate-Liberal to Conservative persons. And that is the real problem with this book-unless you are a far Left individual already predisposed to believing the largely unsubstantiated opinions he offers you will more than likely dismiss everything he says and throw the baby out with the bathwater. Racism does exist. This book offers very little to uproot it.
What about black racism?.......2003-09-21
I'd like books out there to discuss the dangers of anti-white predjucie. I'd like books out there that show it is just as racist to stereotype whites as it is to stereotype blacks or jews. As for the 'white power' reviewer-he is obviously a racist, a self hating white person. As well, calling Hispanics a 'race' is nonsense. There are hispanics who are white, and there are hispanics who are black. There are Italians who are white, and there are Italians who are black.
This typical 'white men are all racist' book reminds me of a quote from the movie, Lean on Me. Morgan Freeman is standing in front of a group of inner city kids, to which he says, "If you do not suceed in life, I don't want you to blame the white man. I don't want you to blame your parents. I want you to blame yourselves. The responsibility is yours." That line alone should already mean something for all of us.
A New Edition--Great!.......2002-05-29
When I began reading the previous edition a few years ago, I realized that I wanted to discuss it with other white people as I worked through the exercises.
As a result five women in leadership roles in their church congregations discussed this book over lunches over some months. It took as many lunches as there are chapters. We learned much about ourselves as white women and much about the history of racism in the United States.
I continue to look for ways to share the impact of this book with others. I am pleased that there is a new edition and look forward to seeing what has made this very useful book even better.
In Response to Reader from U.S.A. : Dangerous.......2001-05-25
The reader who wrote that the book was dangerous obviously has a problem accepting reality. After reading the book for myself and seeing what they wrote, I wonder if he/she is racist. If they accept that racism is prevalent in this country... who are the racist and who is being plagued by the racism? Whoever is suffering from the plague ( minorities ) the other race who is spreading it needs to step in and stop it:The notion that is asserted in the book. A doctor with Ebola cannot save a patient with Ebola. I have a hard time understanding why the reader thinks that each race should isolate themself from others and lend no assistance.
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